Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or any of the original characters from the stories. I just own my plot and Emerald.
Author's note: I'm struggling to write the transitional chapters of this story. So if you feel unsatisfied with this chapter, I apologize. I just wanted to give some insight into what Emerald was feeling the day after "Lighthouse." Bare with me guys...I promise this is going somewhere. Next chapter will be up in the next week or so...anyway, read and please review. Thank you!
Flashback
It was dinner time at the Amellus residence but only one of the house's occupants was taking their evening meal. And even still, said occupant was currently staring down at her plate unseeing as she pushed her food around and then around again. Sighing deeply the young women threw her cloth napkin onto the dinner plate and sat back in her winged back chair. How many nights would she be taking dinner alone now that her father seemed to be out and about or busy with work every waking moment of every single fucking day. The buzzing silence in her ears was deafening and the chime from the large grandfather clock nearly startled Emerald.
Having more than enough of the suffocating silence, Emerald stood from her chair and exited the dining hall. With hurried strides, Emerald collected her wand from her bed chamber and then made her way down to the apparation point on the first floor of her "family" home. Not that it could be called that now… It wasn't like there was a whole family that lived there in it's walls any longer. A family shattered by her mother's death and her father's absence. Feeling angry, the petite young women focused on her destination as she turned on the spot.
Landing as gracefully as one could after apparating, Emerald looked up to see the flashing florescent lights from Cadence's, her favorite night spot as of late. The chocolate brunette nodded at the doormen before making her way inside without ever being stopped. Locating her favorite bar stool, Emerald took a seat, avoiding any and all eye contact from the other occupants of the bar. The crowded pub buzzed with the sound of music and voices, the sound soothing the young woman's frazzled nerves.
Without a word, "Mic" the barman set Emerald's favorite alcoholic beverage down on a coaster near her right hand. The petite young woman thanked him silently and took a sip of the spicy drink. On second thought, Emerald picked up the glass and tipped it backwards, swallowing the rest of the drink in just a few gulps. She felt the alcohol spread like fire through her veins as she signaled "Mic" for another.
Half an hour later and four drinks in had Emerald up and dancing in the crowded pub. Feeling light on her feet for what felt like the first time in a lifetime, the petite young woman enjoyed the temporary respite from the avalanche of emotions she normally felt. Her thoughts were silent as she spun and twirled her way across the dance floor. In a distant sort of way she could recognize her laughter and voice mingling with the other occupants of the pub. Some half-lit wizard with what she believed was dirty blonde hair was talking to her about his misfortune with a busty brunette. Apparently, she left him for his best friend and now he was here in the pub hoping that she would come to her senses. Another voice joined in and she knew from a distance it was her own "At least your mother didn't die from a muggle disease that couldn't be cured by magic. And hell, at least your father didn't fuck your dance instructor while your mother was sick and dying..." Emerald's voice faded away.
The truth of what she had just spoken out loud to a complete stranger slammed into her full force. Memory after memory flashed through her mind as puzzle piece after puzzle piece was connected. Standing abruptly from the bar stool that she found herself in, Emerald sprinted out of the pub's main entrance in a state of pure unadulterated rage. Knowing the dangers of apparating while intoxicated and not giving half a fuck if she got splinched in the process, Emerald turned quickly on the spot.
Reappearing with a small pop, Emerald looked up at the one place she thought she would always be able to find safety. Her childhood home loomed before her, a house built on a foundation of lies and deception. A place where vows were made and then discarded by the man who sired her. If there was ever a moment in time that Emerald could pin-point as the moment that she began to hate her father, she would later recall this very second in her memory. This was the exact moment, when truth came to light and all that was hidden in the dark was there right in front of her. On unsteady feet, Emerald climbed the steps to her home and opened the front door with a drop of her perfectly pure blood.
As was the usual, silence met her ears as she entered into the entry way. Knowing her destination, Emerald climbed the stairs and headed down the hall to her father's quarters. Eyes wide open and alcohol coursing through her veins, Emerald opened her father's door. Empty… bed made, freshly pressed business suit hanging on the wardrobe...Imagine that. Feeling her ire rise, the petite young woman unclasped her wand from it's hiding place up her sleeve. Holding the sturdy piece of wood between her fragile fingers, Emerald looked around the large room. Without aim she let the magic pour out of her as she began to scream and break all of the contents in Brangwen's room with aggressive flicks of her wrist. The sound of shattering glass was some how soothing to her as she swished and flicked her wand over and over again. Unchecked tears slid down her face as she destroyed everything in her father's rooms.
"What on earth are you doing, you lunatic?" The deep voice of her father reached the petite young woman's ears. Spinning around quickly, a curse ready on her lips Emerald watched as her wand was thrown unceremoniously across the expanse of the room. "This must be some mental disease on your mother's side." Brangwen stated in a bored tone as he stared at his daughter as if she was some kind of pest that needed to be dealt with. "You..." Emerald seethed out as she launched her small body at the man staring at her as if she was the crazy one. Sighing deeply, Brangwen sent Emerald flying back against the wall. The impact causing her to land in a heap on the wooden floor. With another flick of his wand, the Italian sent a silent sticking charm at the now stuck young woman.
"Explain" The elder Amellus demanded as he leaned the weight of his six foot height against the door frame to his bedroom. "You're a despicable human being..." Emerald started, hating herself for being weak in front of this man and then hating herself even more as water droplets slid from her face onto the hard wooden floor. Brangwen laughed outright at Emerald's description of him. The sound grated on the petite young woman's nerves so severely that she attempted to fight the curse she was currently under. "She was dying..." the petite brunette whispered brokenly as she stared up at her father. "She was dying and you...you cheated on her with that woman and now you are practically living with her, father. And...and what about me? Huh...don't I matter?" She hated how pitiful and desperate her voice sounded to her own ears, but she was desperate, Emerald was lost.
"You foolish girl...Did you really think a man of my caliber would ever stay single for long? As soon as your mother fell ill I began searching for a replacement. She was aware and has always been aware of her place in my life. We didn't marry for love, we married because it was a good and smart match. Just like you will marry because it's a good and smart match. Marriage is a business, after all-" The elder Amellus explained this to Emerald as if she was a toddler needing guidance and not as if she was a broken girl currently fighting with all her might against the bonds that held her in place from a curse her father had placed her under. Oh how she hated the man that had helped create her "I hate you, father." Emerald spat venomously at the smirking man.
"Good." Brangwen stated simply. "And as for you...well, you're going to Hogwarts. This is life, Emee… now clean up this mess and don't you ever attack me again or I'll have you thrown in Azkaban." After silently lifting the curse that held Emerald on the ground, Brangwen Amellus turned his back on his only living child and left her in the broken mess that was now her life.
Flashback finished
She had left Draco's bed somewhere before dawn. The petite young woman just needed some space to breathe and to think things through. So here Emerald sat on the window seat in her personal rooms, her back pressed up against the wall on one end; her legs and feet curled up under her comfortably as she stared out the window at the brightening sky. The chocolate brunette wondered how people handled all of this pressure in their brains all of the time without the assistance of some kind of chemical. She really wanted to take something – anything- to make the thoughts stop. Emerald knew if she had one nauge she'd take it in a heart beat. The newly sober young woman didn't know if she was capable of staying clean and really wasn't sure if she was doing it because everyone wanted her to, or doing it because she wanted to.
Emerald's thoughts moved on to her current situation with Blaise, Draco and fucking Voldemort. What was she going to do? She could contact McGonagall or owl Harry about what Blaise was up to. But did she really want to risk the only two people in her life that accepted her? Blaise and Draco would surely get ejected from Hogwarts and thrown into Azkaban. No… she couldn't go to any of the "do-gooders" and she had to keep this to herself. Emerald had to do what was needed in order to keep the two people who deserved her loyalty safe. The petite young woman believed that her only option was to meet Voldemort and then join Voldemort if necessary. If she had to take a life she would remind herself that it was them or her… family. Yes, her family…Truth be told, she had never felt so sick and afraid in her life. Could she do that, if it came time to choose? Could she actually take another person's life? An image of Ginny Weasley flashed in her mind and with no more doubt Emerald knew that it was possible. She knew that she walked a tight rope when it came to her sanity; especially now that her mind was free and clear of the sweet veil of nauge.
If it wasn't for Draco… At the thought of the blonde headed Slytherin who had played her body like a well tuned violin the previous evening, Emerald smiled softly to herself. The chocolate brunette understood that she had given Draco a piece of her that she could never get back and she didn't regret one second of it. It seemed to have been along time coming, if she was completely honest with herself. The duo had danced around the topic of sex and love for so long that it was bound to happen. But did she love him? Did she love him like it was apparent that he loved her? Truth was, she believed she loved him as much as she was capable of loving someone. Would that be enough for him? She meant what she said to him, she would not run this time. She would not run to the tower when things got rocky. Emerald would stay and fight beside Draco, she could at least give him that.
Shaking her head slightly to clear her chaotic thoughts, Emerald stood from her seated position upon the window seat and walked the expanse of the floor to the open door that led to the blonde Slytherin's room. Seeing the Draco was still asleep, Emerald made her way to the large bathroom in her own suite, thinking a shower would help lift some of the heavy and itchy feeling from her skin. Trying to resist the urge (and winning) to drown her feelings with nauge. Today… just for today.